A Different Thought
by Fantasius
Summary: This a story of what would have happened if Harry had thought differently during the fight in the graveyard.
1. Whisked Away!

_**Disclaimer:**_ _ **I don't own Harry Potter. It is the sole property of the wonderful author J. K. Rowling. I am just borrowing it to write my own version.**_

Harry was in the center of the maze, panting from having dealt with two Acromantulas. They had attacked him and Cedric right in the square where the Triwizard Cup was situated.

'Take it, Harry. You deserve it more than I do. You saved my life from those giant spiders,' said Cedric.

Harry stared at the Cup once, imagining himself emerging the victor from the maze and Cho's face the brightest, her eyes solely for him. Cedric's movements brought Harry back out of his fantasy and he shook his head. He turned towards Cedric.

'You should have it. I should not have been part of a tournament meant for people of age. You helped me in that second task,' said Harry.'

'So did you, Harry. Had it not been for you, I would have gone on to my first task, not realizing I had a dragon to deal with,' urged Cedric

On Harry's urging that not him but both deserved a joint win then, he and Cedric touched the glowing Triwizard Cup at the same time. Just as they did so, Harry felt a jerk behind the navel making him realize it's a portkey but too late. He could not let go, the magic of the portkey pulling the two unwilling passengers to God knows where.

With a thump, Harry's feet hit the solid ground at last but made him lose his balance and fall on his face.

They both got up trying to get rid of the temporary dizziness caused by the portkey travel. Cedric looked at the Cup and asked him, 'Was this supposed to happen? Did someone tell you that it was a portkey?'

'No,' said he while looking around at what turned out to be a graveyard. He began to once again run his eyes over the entire place wanting to find the nearest exit out of these eerie surroundings. In doing so, he spotted something which made his insides go cold. On one particular gravestone etched was a name.

TOM MARVOLO RIDDLE


	2. Rebirth

He knew from a conversation ages ago with the 16-year-old self of Lord Voldemort that he was named after his Muggle father.

On seeing this, he took an involuntary step back.

'Harry, what is it?' asked Cedric.

'We should not be here. This is Voldemort's father's grave. Let's go,' whispered Harry.

'You-Know-Who's dad's grave?' asked Cedric.

'Yes, Cedric. Now is not the time to think. You have got your Apparation license, right? You can Apparate us out and back to school?' Harry asked hopefully.

'Yes, I can. Hold on to my upper arm. It will be uncomfortable for you though if it's your first time,' said Cedric.

'Okay,' said Harry holding his hand and waiting. And waiting. And waiting.

'Damn it. They have set up Anti-Apparation wards' swore Cedric which was soon replaced by nervousness. 'I can't get us out, Harry. We should probably keep our wands out and start looking for a way out.'

'Ye-,' Harry cut off mid-sentence when he heard the crunch of pebbles under someone's feet coming from a distance. Cedric too had heard it, for he was pointing his wand in that direction.

They waited in tense silence as the figure approached. It was walking as if it was carrying a baby in its arms. The two boys looked at each other bemused.

As the mysterious figure drew nearer, Harry's scar suddenly flared with such pain as he had never felt during all the times that it had hurt. He dropped to his knees clutching his scar and almost did not hear the high cold voice which sometimes haunted him in his dreams, say 'Kill the older boy. We have no need of him.'

It was the voice of Lord Voldemort.

Cedric, on hearing this, had whirled around from bending to have a look at Harry. The half-formed words of a curse on his lips died as another voice, familar to Harry, screeched 'AVADA KEDAVRA'. That was the voice of the traitor, Peter Pettigrew aka Wormtail.

There was a swishing noise of a wand and a blinding flash of green light, followed by the sound of something vast rushing through the air. There was a thud which told Harry who had shut his eyes from the pain, that Cedric had been murdered right in front of him. He opened his eyes almost unwillingly to look at the figure of Cedric lying dead next to the forgotten Triwizard Cup, a last look of defiance, permanently etched on his face.

He could not take his eyes off him, being in a state of shock and did not even notice when Wormtail started dragging him towards the gravestone, eyes fixated on Cedric. It was until he felt something about to be forced into his mouth that he came back to his senses that he found himself tightly bound, unable to move even an inch.

'You, I am gonna make you pay,' Harry promised Wormtail, 'You will suffer as much as other victims.'

The look in Harry's eyes was murderous. Wormtail stared into Harry's eyes, eyes which so hauntingly reminded him of Lily, Harry's mother. He took and involuntary step back. She was not one to be messed with when angered. For a second, Wormtail felt like he was looking at Lily herself.

'Hurry,' came Voldemort's voice from the bundle he had placed, shaking Wormtail out of his thoughts.

'Yes, My Lord,' said he.

Soon, Harry was a witness to a sickening dark ritual, which involved brewing a dark potion in a cauldron big enough to hide a man. The potion could only be dark because it involved pouring some blood of the enemy (that being Harry), a bone of Tom Riddle Sr and flesh willingly given by the servant. Harry was averted his eyes when Wormtail severed his own hand from the wrist down and poured it as well into the cauldron. He foolowed it with the baby from the bundle of clothes which he dropped too.

It seemed that Voldemort had been possessing a human baby. The possession had decayed the baby's skin, making it lok raw but the eyes, they were just the same as ever. A vivid red. Harry could never forget the first time he had looked at them, in his first year.

The potion frothed and flared throwing sparks everywhere and then turned silent. Soon, a tall, naked figure rose out of it.

Lord Voldemort had risen once again.


	3. The Dark Lord's Return

He looked the same as ever. Face, whiter than skull and a snake-like nose with slits for nostrils.

'My robes,' commanded Voldemort.

Wormtail who had been sobbing from pain, clutching the stump of his hand, got up from where he had been sitting and stepped forward with the clothes.

'And, my wand,' said Voldemort softly once he was properly attired.

Pettigrew pulled it out of his pocket and then bending on one knee, presented the wand to his master.

He held the wand in his long, thin fingers and flicked it lightly, sending Wormtail flying backwards into the gravestone. Satisfied that it was working perfectly, he now raised his head and looked at Harry.

'Welcome, Harry Potter, welcome to my new re-birth ceremony, ' said Voldemort, ' I will attend to you but first we have to wait for my invitees to arrive. Wormtail, come here and give me your hand.'

'Thank you, master,' wheezed Wormtail, eagerly stretching the useless stump of what remained of his right hand.

'Not you right hand, you wretch,' sneered the Dark Lord, 'Your other hand'.

'Master please,' cried Wormtail.

Irritated, Voldemort grabbed his left hand in his own and pulled up the traitor's sleeve. Harry saw the tattoo of the Dark Mark on his skin. It was vivid red in color. The Dark Lord pressed his index finger to it and watched in satisfaction as it turned as black as night. As soon as he had pressed it, HArry's scar throbbed in pain once more. He almost did not hear the soft 'POP' made by the sound of Apparation.

There were more 'POPS' and 'CRACKS' as wizards Apparated in between the gravestones. Harry could not see their faces because they were all hooded and masked but he knew at once who they all were.

They were followers of Lord Voldemort. Death Eaters!

Nearly, twenty of them.

All of them, slowly approached the waiting trio. They were all looking at their master in disbelief. Voldemort patiently waited until they had all assembled around him in a circle and paid him obeisance by bending down on one knee and muttering, 'My Lord'.

'Welcome, friends. It's as if only yesterday when I called you and you came so promptly. All of you came here eager to prove that you still remain loyal to me and loyal to our cause but not one of you tried to look for me, not even when my most faithful servant fired the Dark Mark in the sky. Yes, I know it all. Wormtail here, has told me everything since he joined me at the end of the last year,' said the Dark Lord softly but as he spoke a shiver had run through the watching group.

'Master, we are all eager to know how you were reborn, how you managed to come back to us,' came the unmistakeable voice of Lucius Malfoy.

'Ah, Lucius, it is a thrilling story but I wish to do it justice by telling it in a more suitable setting, rather than doing so in a graveyard in a Muggle-infested village,' said Voldemort with unhidden contempt in his voice.

He turned once again towards Harry. 'They have called this boy my downfall, haven't they? The Boy-Who-Lived, they call him, don't they? A boy whose blood was today used in my re-birthing ritual.' said he, laughing softly. 'Well then, we shall see. Let's match the powers of Lord Voldemort and the Boy-Who-Lived. He will be given his chance and as I take his life out of him, I will prove my infallibility to those who thought I, the most powerful wizard alive, could ever be killed.' As he said this, his vivid red eyes roved once over his followers and a second shiver ran through them. Turning to Wormtail, he said, ' Give him his wand and we will see what can the famous Harry Potter do.'


	4. Fighting The Magico-Muggle Way

Harry straightened up as Wormtail approached the gravestone, cut the ropes and gave him back his wand. As soon as he was free, he fell down being bound so tightly but then he got up, pulled the gag out of his mouth and chucked it at Peter who had joined the watching Death Eaters. Voldemort and his followers chortled at this seemingly childish action of his but the next second their laughter was cut off as Wormtail dropped to his knees clutching his groin with the ball of cloth lying next to him. The Dark Lord cast a Hover charm to levitate what should have been only the gag but as the the cloth floated up, it revealed a wickedly sharp stone hidden just under it.

They had not known that when Harry was getting up after being freed, he had picked up the fist-sized stone and hid it. When he pulled out the gag from his mouth, he did so with the same hand, leaving no one with the idea that he held something else in his hand as well. trying to hex Peter was the first thought in his mind but two things stopped him from using magic. First, he was surrounded by other wizards who could put him down in a flash if his wand so much as twitched. Secondly, Voldemort's frequent use of the word 'Muggle' had struck a chord with him. He realized that being a wizard didn't mean that he could not use non-magical means to defend or attack.

'There, that solves the rat infestation problem. No more rats for people to worry about as you won't be able to produce any, Wormtail,' said Harry coldly.

'That was nice, Harry Potter but,' said Voldemort, an evil smile upon his face and pausing for a second, 'I thought you were a wizard, Potter. What you did was so Muggle! Are you going to fight me the Muggle way? I was hoping for a proper duel, after all. Was that too much of an expectation from you? You know how to duel though, don't you? They must have taught you that much?'

Harry said nothing. He just looked at Voldemort, tense and ready. He had evaluated his chances of escaping the place and decided that he would have to cause a good enough diversion in order to be able to do so.

"Let's bow to each other. Bow to the Dark Lord, Harry Potter,' said Voldemort bowing his head slightly but never taking eyes off him.

'I will never bow to the killer of my parents, Voldemort,' said Harry.

'Obeisance to your betters is something I will teach you before I kill you and bury you in the same filthy grave where my father lies. You will die and the wizarding world will never know about it. They will also not know about my rebirth until I start ruling them.' said he imagining the horror the magical world would feel when they learned about their savior's demise. 'And now we duel.'


	5. Duel With The Dark Lord

Harry dived out of the way of a wicked red Cruciatus Curse being ready for Voldemort to torture and weaken him which he had once observed when Moody had demonstrated it on a spider. The Death Eaters behind Harry scattered on seeing the curse headed their way, after it had missed him.

He hid behind one of the grave markers and aiming high, shot the Serpensortia curse at Voldemort. There was a bang and a poisonous king cobra burst out of his wand hissing loudly but Harry did not stop there. Without waiting for the snake to land, he aimed the wand at it and cast the Sonorous charm on it so that the snake's his became loud enough to be heard in the entire village and it was scary enough to cause the more cowardly Death Eaters to scatter.

'Not bad for starters, Potter. You have been taught well but your hiss for help won't be heard by the villagers. There are strong Muggle-Repelling and Silencing wards around the area,' said Voldemort laughing, 'And thanks for providing Nagini with some entertainent.'

Harry watched as a huge snake appeared out of nowhere to engage the cobra.

He had to duck again as Voldemort shot another curse at him.

Harry dived behind a grave marker to avoid the curse.

'Come out, Potter and play' taunted Voldemort 'Face me like a man. Face your death, Potter. It might not be painful. Can't tell you for sure though. Who knows what it feels like to die. Alas, I am immortal.'

Voldemort moved around at a leisurely pace, wand continuously pointed at the grave marker behind which Harry was hidden.

'He knows that his followers will stop me if I manage to give him the slip' thought Harry.

Harry felt desperate and his mind went numb with no hope of escaping in sight.

'Tired already, Harry. Then come out. I will put you to sleep.' cooed Voldemort. Turning briefly at Wormtail, he said, 'Your Marauder friends definitely had a lot more steel than their spawn. Tsk tsk tsk, I am so disappointed.'

The word 'Marauders' seemed to act as a stimulant for Harry. Like a foaming mug of hot Butterbeer, warmth seemed to spread through him as the faces of Sirius and Remus passed in front of his eyes. He remembered the stories he had heard of the Marauders. He started searching his robes for something and his hand came out holding a knife. He began thinking fast and hit upon an idea. He remembered reading about a Gemino charm which was used for replicating metallic objects. Maybe, he could use it in combination with something.

Here, Voldemort was tired of playing, his patience wearing thin. He crossed over to the other side of the gravestone Harry was hiding behind.

'Time to die, Potter' sneered Voldemort.


	6. Face Off

Harry got up and threw the knife at him and at the same time muttered the Gemino curse which duplicated the flying knife and followed it up with two quick 'Reductos. WHile he aimed one directly at Voldemort, the other he shot st the Dark Lord's feet.

Voldemort who was about to casually deflect the first knife was suddenly put on the defensive as the rushing knife mutliplied into two and then there wenre those two curses. He had to change his plan halfway through the incantation for banishing the rushing knife away and instead form a shield which would protect him from both the knives as well as the curse aimed at him.

Harry having already predicted this outcome simply moved to the side to avoid the deflected REductor curse. The other curse's aim was true though and it served its purpose. The Reductor curse blew up the ground at Voldemort's feet kicking up pebbles and dust blinding the Dark Lord.

The Death Eaters, in the meanwhile, had not tried to do anything to help their Master as they knew that interfering in a duel initiated by the Dark Lord would result in punishment. Their Master was as cruel with his followers as with his enemies.

After Harry dodged the returning curse, he whirled around and whispered 'Defodio' thrice. This spell which he had discovered in the course of reading about dragons was meant for blasting walls and which one wizard had tried to use against a Chinese Fireball. This time he aimed the curse near the feet of the Death Eaters in three directions. It worked with great success. These curses, obviously being immensely powerful compared to the Reductor curses blasted huge craters where it hit the ground kicking up so many rocks and dust. A few unwary Death Eaters were blasted off their feet with the force of the explosion. The shrapnel of blasted stones injured those few who weren't quick enough to shield themselves magically. Still, the explosions and the dust disoriented and blinded all of them. The massive amount of dust kicked up by the multiple blasts created an ideal smoke-screen and a smoke-screen was what Harry needed in order to make his escape. He crouched and started stealthily making his way away. He came across a couple of Death Eaters who were dazed from the blast. They started to raise their wand but Harry had already cast two muttered Severing Curses at their torsos slashing viciously twice in the air. Since the Severing Curses did not emit a flash of light or any sound, the Death Eaters at first though that Harry's curses had failed. Their sneers were cut short when they felt as if someone had cut them with a knife. They stopped mid-incantation to look down and found a deep gash in their stomachs. That was all the chance Harry needed in which he cast a Body Bind Curse aimed at both together. Their hands and legs snapped together and they fell down with a thud.

Harry again started to make his way, taking care to use a circuitous route, towards where Cedric's body lay. He had worked out that the same Cup which brought him here could take him and Cedric's body back. He would not leave Cedric's dead body behind.


	7. Harry's Muggle Side

Harry had already counted that there were nearly 25 Death Eaters who had answered Voldemort's call after his re-birth. They had spread throughout the graveyard after Harry had broken out of the duelling ring of sorts formed by them when Voldemort had challenged him. He thought it would not be easy to hide from them.

'Hide', that word struck Harry's mind like a chord and he looked at himself. His scarlet Gryffindor robes would surely make him stand out and add to it, it wasn't a moonless night. The full moon shone in the cloudless sky in all its glory but he would have preferred to be lucky if it had been a moonless night or cloudy, at least.

'Luck, ha!' , Harry thought, hidden temporarily behind the statue of an angel. Luck had not been much on his side lately. He again looked at himself. Then, he had an idea. Quickly pointing the wand at his robes, he turned them the same color as his surroundings. Looking at his spellwork with satisfaction, he turned his mind again towards the Death Eaters. He would have to act cunningly and try to take them with stealth, if possible. His mind briefly turned back to what had transpired in the last thirty minutes.. He knew that he could not take on the Death Eaters face to face with his wand directly. They would have an arsenal of dark curses. He decided to combine magic and Muggle techniques seriously this time.

He quickly set to work. He first found out where the Death Eaters were concentrated the most. Then, transfiguring a stone into a thick metallic box, he gave it a black color so that it would be camouflaged and using an Engorgement Charm, he made it swell to a size nearly the same as the cauldron in which the Dark Lord was reborn. He then placed a Hover Charm on it to make it feather-light. Quickly banishing it into the air above where the Death Eaters were more in number, he waited. They had not noticed it as their eyes were on the lookout for him. He knew that as soon as he fired the next curse at that box, his position would become known. So, he would have to divert their attention for that particular span of time in the direction right opposite of where he was hidden.

He fired another Severing Curse , this time aimed not at the Death Eaters but at one of the grave marker. A part of it cracked and hid the ground with a thud which was fairly audible to them in the silent graveyard. It had the desired effect. All the nearby Death Eaters turned to the spot, with a few who were already facing that direction firing quick curses, a couple of which were sickly purple and yellow in color. It made him queasy to think what would have happened had been at the end of one of those curses and grateful to have thought up this plan.

As soon as the box slowed to hover over right where they were prowling, Harry whispered, 'Defodio' but did not wait to see its effect. Quickly muttering a Shield Charm to protect himself from the effects of the curse he had just fired, he slipped from his place to move away and towards a new hiding place while keeping an eye out for those and other followers of the Dark Lord.

The curse Harry fired hit the box with a devastating effect. It exploded all over the place and the shrapnel of the metal hit not only those Death Eaters but a few others standing away from them as well. Many were heavily injured, the metal having hit some of them very deeply in places. In some cases, it had pierced their vital organs. Harry knew he had hit a lot of them but he could not lose time to cheer for himself. There were still other dangerous Death Eaters and then Voldemort himself to deal with. He had to try to avoid them, take down as many as he could to stop them from harming him and avoid Voldemort, if possible. A very difficult task and it was a sobering thought but for the first time, he felt hope.

Hope, that he could survive this and make out alive and return to Hogwarts to inform the world about the Dark Lord's rebirth.

 **NOTE:** **I sincerely thank all those who have read my story and appreciate all the reviews. This is the first time I have written a story in my life and am humbled by such a response from the viewers.**


	8. Harry's Escape!

Harry had circled and just about reached Cedric's body and the Cup when he heard Voldemort's high, cold voice.

'Well, well, well, Harry Potter. You have definitely lived up to people's expectations and stood up to your parents' standards. I would give you Exceeds Expectations if I would have been your teacher, taking most of my Death Eaters the wat you have done.' said Voldemort and here he took a pause and sighed, 'Alas, the people won't know what you did. You will die here and be transported back to the maze where your body and that of the other boy will be found and people will think you died there. No one will know about the rise of Lord Voldemort and until he wishes so and when they do, there won't be much for them to do. They will raise their heads to see me only to bow it back in obeissance to me.'

All this time, while Voldemort had been going on with his monologue, Harry had not turned totally in his direction. While going with the pretence of listening and staring at the Dark Lord in his peripheral vision, he was slowly moving his wand to point it backwards at Voldemort from between his armpit and hand. The blast he had caused had disoriented the other Death Eaters standing at at a safer distance but they were coming back now. They wanted to be a witness to their Master finally gaining victory over the Boy Who Lived. He knew he would have to act quickly and cleverly

'Now turn around, Harry Potter. Face me like a man and die like one. I will give you an honorable death though the public will only know how you died like a coward, first trying to run away and then begging for mercy. Come now, Har-' Voldemort's words died in his throat as his wand dropped from his hand. He was dazed for a second wondering how could he lose his grip on his wand. He was about to bend down to pick it up when he fell face down, his legs having snapped together.

Once Harry's wand was in its desired position, he had cast a Numbing Charm on Voldemort's wand hand causing him to lose the sense of touch in it. Madam Pomfrey had showed him that when he had asked her teach him some Healing spells during one of his post-Quidditch Hospital Wing visit as his teammates had started calling it.

'Funny, how a charm meant to ease pain while healing can be used to disarm someone', thought Harry as he went on to then cast the Leg-Locker Curse. In his mind while hiding earlier, he had made a list of all those spells which did not emit any sign of being cast and required the least wand movements. The Death Eaters had only noticed the wand dropping from their Lord's hand and then, were stunned to see their Master fall like a puppet whose strings had been severed.

That was the only chance Harry needed. Without getting up from his crouched position, he muttered a 'Defodio' aiming it the Death Eaters nearrer to Voldemort's side. This kicked up a lot of dust and pebbles, again blinding them and the oebbles injuring a few. He had deliberately aimes it a the followers at his back then at the front because the ones behind him posed more of a threat by a way of his lack of vision. He could see the Death Eaters in front of him and therefore could counter or avoid their curses. As soon as he fired the curse, he dived at Cedric's body while at the same time, shouting an 'Accio' summoning the Triwizard Cup to him. He watched as a few curses flew at him but then...

The portkey glowed and Harry vanished in a swirling vortex of blue light.

Voldemort let out a roar of rage just as he was freed from the curse binding him.

The boy had escaped his grasp yet again!


	9. Revelation

Harry re-appeared with Cedric's body and the Cup portkey in front of the maze and was immediately deafened by the amount of noise the audience was making on thinking that he had won. He breathed a sigh of relief for a second as he had managed to escape Voldemort's clutches again.

As soon as he had appeared, Dumbledore and the Minister had surged towards him wishing to congratulate him but they were shocked on hearing Harry cry, 'Cedric is dead. He is dead. I could not save him.'

Dumbledore rushed forwards and tried to separate Harry from Cedric's body but he was holding on to Cedric's hand in a vise-like grip. Harry instead clutched Dumbledore's hand and said, 'It's Voldemort. He is back. He had Cedric murdered.'

Dumbledore paused in his efforts for a moment and then said, 'I expected him to rise again and we will prepare for him but now Harry, you need to let go of Cedric but I want you to stay with me.'

Harry let go of Cedric's body and was immediately pulled to his feet by Moody who told Dumbledore, 'I will take the lad to the Hospital Wing, Albus.'

'No, I want him to stay.' said Dumbledore.

'Albus, you need to deal with the press and Albus, the Diggorys. They are here. You need to take care of them and comfort them.' said Moody earnestly. Saying this, Moody began to pull Harry away from the maze and the crowd towards the castle.

'Dumbledore wants me to stay, Professor.' said Harry.

'It's alright, laddie. He is just worried after the tragic events of the day. That is all.' said Moody.

Harry allowed himself to be led away. His mind then wandered to all that had happened. His name being entered into the Goblet of Fire, his kidnapping, all that could not have happened without inside help which meant that it had to be a Death Eater. Two names immediately came to the fore of his mind, Karkaroff or Snape or both. He immediately turned to the Professor.

'Sir, where's Karkaroff? Voldemort surely had inside help in getting me through all this and Karkaroff was a Death Eater. He should be questioned about this, shouldn't he?' asked Harry.

'Karkaroff?' asked Moody with a snort, 'He ran away, probably when he felt Voldemort's call through his Dark Mark. He was cowardly to return to his Master having betrayed many of the Death Eaters by naming names. If he returned, he would be killed.'

That left Harry thinking about Snape. Dumbledore had made it clear that Snape was on their side during their last meeting. 'if Snape was on Voldemort's side, wouldn't he have come on Voldemort pressing the Dark Mark?' thought Harry. Snape loathed him and his father. He would surely have loved to see his Master kill him, if he was still a Death Eater.

This meant that there was someone else, either under the Imperius Curse or under Polyjuice Potion. Finding who is under the Imperius Curse would be hard and as far as Poly juice was concerned, hadn't Hermione said that the effects of Polyjuice Potion would run out after an hour which meant that the Polyjuiced person would have to drink the potion every hour in order to keep up the disguise. Surely, someone would notice a person drinking something every hour. This thought gave him pause and he suddenly realised with a sense of foreboding that there was one such person and he was willingly walking with him away from the protection of Dumbledore!

He was in no position to run away. He would have to handle this carefully and not let the impostor know that he was onto him.

He started forming a plan to take him down as the castle loomed close. He had a very clever Death Eater to take down.


	10. Curtain Raiser

As they crossed the grounds, Harry flashed back on what Crouch Sr. had said to him when he and Krum found him near the Forbidden Forest. He had said two things one of which was easily obvious and proven tonight and that was of Voldemort getting stronger. The other thing he had said was about his son. That it was his fault. Harry thought about what Sirius himself had told him. Crouch's son had died within a year and that Crouch was seen half dragging his wife away after a deathbed visit. Harry was slowly assembling little pieces of a big puzzle.

The night at the World Cup with Crouch's elf saving her master a seat but Crouch not turning up himself, the elf being found with Harry's wand while the elf denied having stolen it, Crouch's name appearing on the Marauder's Map when he was supposed to be ill. Sirius had denied that Crouch would not pull up such a stunt to spy on Snape. If he wanted to do so, he could have regularly visited the school, the Triwizard Tournament providing such an excuse and what him being one of the judges.

Having put those instances together in one bunch, Harry;s mind moved on to all the out of class meetings he had with this person beside him who was definitely impersonating Moody. They were now climbing the stairs to the great oak front doors.

One such instance struck him. The night he had seen Crouch's name on the Marauder's Map. He had met the impostor that night and he on learning about the Map had asked Harry whether he had seen anyone there and Harry had told him about seeing Barty Crouch. WHy would anyone ask such a question to a student when he could have been only using it to get around the castle without being seen unless the person asking was guilty of something. 'What is the connection between Barty Crouch and this man?' Harry pondered.

Then it struck him. What if Barty Crouch Sr's son was alive having escaped from Azkaban? Hary did not know the name of the son but it was no great stretch to imagine a son being named after his father or grandfather as was the tradition in some families. Then this person had to be Barty Crouch Jr. The one who had tortured Neville's parents into insanity with the Lestranges.

Now having established his suspicions on who this man was, Harry turned his mind to plotting on taking him down. His adversary was surely clever having fooled Dumbledore himself into believing that he was his friend Alastor Moody and he had to be powerfully magical being able to fool an ancient magical artefact like the Goblet of Fire into accepting Harry's name. Voldemort would not choose any lesser or weaker. Harry decided that his only chance lay on two things. A combination of non-magical means and casting a curse only when the impostor was halfway thorugh his own incantation because then he would not be able to pull up a shield charm or deflect Harry's curse while in the middle of an incantation. This meant that Harry would have to provoke him.

As they entered the DADA office, Harry thought it would have been good to provoke him while in the passage with a lot of places to take cover behind. Alas, he would have to make do with what he had. He decided to be straight forward. That might surprise him, buy him sometime.

The impostor gave him a Strengthening Solution though Harry only sniffed it but did not drink it though it did smell like what the potion was labeled to be.

'Forgive me for being paranoid, Prof. Moody but what if this is tampered with. I have learned my lessons well.' said Harry.

'Taking after me, are you?' asked the impostor still under the impression that the boy was unaware that Harry Potter was onto him. He took the bottle from Harry's hand and took a sip. Nothing happened to him except the positive effects of the potion taking place. 'See it's not poisoned' said he.

'OK' said Harry and downed the bottle. Immediately he felt better.

'So, why are we here, Professor?' asked Harry 'Or should that be Barty Crouch Jr?'

This gave the impostor a pause as he had opened his mouth to answer Harry's first question.

He stared Harry for a second, took in his stance. Harry was standing with his back to the door, his wand pointed casually but unerringly at his face with eyes going from the wand to his face and back again. The impostor already had his wand out. He lowered it slightly for a second to give the impression that he didn't know what Harry was saying only to raise it back up fast.

'CRUCIO!' shouted the impostor.

Harry had seen Crouch's eyes widen and the he saw them flare with anger knowing that a curse was coming, he ducked as soon as Crouch's mouth opened and then with his one hand touching the ground, he kicked hard at the impostor's groin and was rewarded when Crouch buckled with both hands clutching it. Harry quickly fired a Conjunctivits Curse at Crouch's eyes while rising from his position on the floor and followed it up with a Summoning Charm and the impostor's wand which had fallen down flew into his hand. Crouch stumbled backwards clutching both his face and his groin, writhing in agony and fell awkwardly into a chair.

Having straightened himself up properly, Harry now shot two 'Serpensortia's aiming not at Crouch but at the floor beside him. This time, two poisonous adders burst out of his wand with loud BANGs. As soon as they landed on the floor, he hissed, ' _Bind him'._ The snakes quickly rushed to do his bidding and coiled around him tightly with their faces mere millimeters from the impostor's face. They hissed at him threateningly showing off their sharp fangs.

Crouch emptied his bladder in fear but Harry could not stop himself from chortling, not beause Crouch had peed in his robes but beacuse of what he heard the snakes say to each other.

' _Silly human hatchling! He takes ur from our home not to feed us, NO!, but to bind this filth. And now, he smells of filth too. But what can we do against a Speaker.'_

 _'I will provide you a home and feed you if you obey my command now'_ hissed Harry.

Meanwhile, Professor Dumbledore had reached the floor having followed the impostor very late after grabbing both Snape and McGonagall. He rushed to Moody's office, wand drawn, on hearing two BANGs fearing for Harry's life. As soon as Moody's door was in sight, he blew it off its hinges and all three entered the room, battle-ready only to find Harry standing over the groaning impostor and couple of venomous looking snakes coiled around him.

It was at this point that HArry fully understood for the first time why people said that Albus Dimbledore was the only one in the world whom Lord Voldemort feared. The look on his face as he entered ready for battle was terrible to look at. There was anger written all over him and he was radiating so much power as if he was giving off burning heat.

'What happened, Harry?' asked Professor Dumbledore calmly while he still radiated that sense of power.

 **(** ** _Thank you all for the reviews and views. I appreciate that all those of you like my story so much that you are following it and some of you have even added it to your favorites)_**


	11. Explanations

'This is not, Professor Moody. He is Barty Crouch Junior' said Harry causing Prof. McGonagall to gasp. She immediately went to Harry's side. 'Let's go the Hospital Wing, Potter' said she.

Two voices immediately said, 'No'.

The voices were of Professor Dumbledore and Harry. They looked at each other.

'Look at him, Albus. He is injured. Madam Pomfrey should have a look at him right away.' said Prof. McGonagall.

'Harry needs to know the entire truth' said Dumbledore.

'I have worked out the important bits, I think but I feel the need to know everything. I deserve it.' said Harry.

Professor Dumbledore nodded and turned to Professor Snape. 'Fetch me the Veritaserum.'

'I already have it' said Snape pulling the little bottle out. Dumbledore raised an eyebrow at this but didn't say anything as he took it from him.

'Minerva, will you please get Winky from the kitchens. I think she should be present when Barty tells us everything and once you have done that, will you please go to Hagrid's pumpkin patch. You will find a large black dog there. Tell him to go to my office and wait for me. I will be there with Harry as soon as we are finished with this.'

She did not say anything to such weird instructions from Prof. Dumbledore as she was used to this and understood he knew what he was doing.

'Professor, if we are going to interrogate Crouch, shouldn't the Minister and a few Aurors be present? We don't want him escaping even by chance and have a repeat of last year.' said Harry.

'Good idea' said Dumbledore turning at once to Prof. Snape 'Severus, if you would'.

'Of course, Professor' said Snape and exiting with a swish of his cloak.

They waited a while watching Crouch. Slowly, he returned to his original form with a real eye growing in place of the magical eye and Moody's wooden leg being replaced by a real one. Professor Dumbledore summoned Moody's flask from Crouch's robes. The movement of the bottle caused the snakes to hiss angrily at Crouch, thinking it was his fault but then they saw the it fly into Dumbledore's outstretched hand and they moved as if to strike him.

' _Don't hurt him'_ hissed Harry quickly. ' _Just keep your eyes on the man you are coiled around_.'

Dumbledore looked as the snakes which were about to bite him returned quickly to their previous position and hissed threateningly at Crouch who had tried to struggle as soon as the snakes; attention had turned away.

'I think I would better Stun and then bind him with ropes. Can't have him make even that slightest attempt to break free plus I won't have to speak to the snakes in front of the Minister, what with the newspaper printing all the dirt passed by the Slytherins' said Harry to Dumbledore before turning to the snakes and hissing, ' _I will magically knock him out. So, you may rest by the fireplace now. I am sure you like the heat.'_

 _'Yes, Master',_ the snakes hissed back surprising Harry.

'Stupefy, Incarcerous,' muttered Harry before turning to Dumbledore. 'It's Polyjuice, isn't it, sir?' he asked pointing at the bottle in the Headmaster's hand.

'Yes,' said Dumbledore surprised at Harry's deduction.

'While we wait, I think I would rather tell you how I worked out that he is Barty Crouch Jr.' said Harry.

'You mean Crouch did not tell you himself?' asked Dumbledore.

'No, sir' said Harry and so saying, he launched into how he thought through everything that had happened around him and had happened to him.

Finally, they heard a the sound of footsteps but with it they also felt something cold approaching as well.

'Dementors,' said a worried Harry looking at Dumbledore.

Indeed, it was a Dementor who was followed by the Minister and Professor Snape. At the same time, Prof. McGonagall reached the office as well followed by Winky.

As soon as the dementor saw Crouch Jr, it swooped down at the unconscious form of Crouch and would have undoubtedly administered the fatal Kiss to him had it not been for Harry.

'EXPECTO PATRONUM,' roarred Harry and a brilliant white stag shot out of his wand. It's arrival caused the dementor to swiftly glide away and out of the office as if repelled by a magnet.

'Mr. Potter, you are not allowed to drive away my guard,' cried the Minister while also being awed by such a feat performed by a mere 14 year old. On the other hand, WInky had rushed to Crouch and was wailing in her high-pitched voice by his unconscious form, 'You is killed master Bary. You is kiled him.'

'Crouch would not have been able to testify if he had been Kissed, Cornelius,' said Dumbledore before Harry could get a word out. Hearing that Crouch wasn't dead silenced Winky. 'If you want a guard, why not summon a team of the Aurors. I daresay, ten wands against one unconscious Death Eater could do more damage than a Dementor.'

Before the Minister could say anything, Dumbledore had turned to Crouch propping him up in a sitting position. Without turning back to the Minister, he asked, 'Don't you need your guards, Cornelius? I daresay you should also call in Rufus Scrimgeour and Amelia Bones. You will find their presence of great help and they can be witnesses to the statement given by him and Harry Potter.'

Hearing this, the Minister pulled out a golden medallion with a logo of the British Ministry of Magic consisting of a big M was emblazoned on it. He pressed it in three places and said, 'They will be here soon enough.'

Now, they settled for for what they hoped would be a shorter wait then the one they had while Prof. Snape had gone to get the Minister.

 **(N.B. I know you might be disappointed that there is so little action in this part but as one of my readers said, Harry will have to give a lot of explanations. This was the first part of it. I hope to make the next part more interesting. Forgive me this once.)**


	12. Investigation

'Minerva, please wait for them in the Entrance Hall and lead them here directly' said Dumbledore.

Hearing this, Prof. McGonagall walked out.

They didn't have to wait long enough. Soon, the steps were heard and in came Prof. McGonagall followed by a woman in her early forties and eleven men and women in Auror uniforms.

'You sent for us, Min-', the woman cut off mid-sentence as she glanced at the prone figure and did a double-take.

'Barty Crouch Junior!' said the man. Instantly his wand was in his hand pointed at the unconscious Death Eater.

'Yes, Rufus, he was apprehended by Mr. Potter here', said Prof. Dumbledore pointing at Harry, before the Minister could get in a word, 'We would all like to know how he escaped imprisonment and then we will hear Harry's statement. As you will no doubt want to hear the entire truth, Severus has kindly provided me with Veritaserum.'

'As it was brewed by him, a non-Ministry person, I cannot allow it. I want to use the Ministry-brewed Veritaserum' said the Minster angrily not liking being ignored by his own officials in favour of Dumbledore.

'Fine, we have it handy' said Amelia Bones, 'Rufus?'

'Here, Ma'am', said the man who could only be Rufus Scrimgeour, handing over a vial of crystal clear liquid.

Amelia Bones poured three drops of the potion into Barty Crouch Jr.' s mouth and then pointing her wand at him, muttered, 'Rennervate'.

Crouch opened his eyes, blinking once. Harry saw that they were glazed over.

'What is your name?', asked Madam Bones grabbing a chair and sitting in it.

'Bartemius Crouch Junior', said he.

'How come did you escape from Azkaban?' she asked next.

'My father out of his love for my dying mother who asked for it as her last wish did so.'

'How did you come to be here?'

'The Dark Lord freed me from my home where I was kept a prisoner under the Imperius Curse by my father. He had learned from Bertha Jorkins whom Wormtail had captured that there was one servant who was still alive and loyal to the Dark -'

'Nonsense! You-Know-Who is dead! He died at the hands of Harry Potter thirteen years ago.' screeched Cornelius Fudge.

'He is alive', said two voices at once. They all looked to see that it was both Crouch and Harry who had spoken.

'What do you mean, Mr. Potter?' asked Amelia.

'We will all get to hear what Mr. Potter says in his statement but I think we should finish with Crouch first', cut in Prof. McGonagall.

'Yes, let's finish with this first', agreed Prof. Dumbledore.

'Continue, Crouch. What happened after your Dark Lord heard about you?' asked Amelia.

Crouch narrated the whole story of how his Master had come to his home one night in the arms of his servant, Wormtail, how they captured Moody and so on.

The Minister tried interrupting him when he talked about Lord Voldemort but was told to hold his questions until the end of story.

As soon as Crouch finished the story, the Minister could not hold it any longer, 'This is all rubbish. Clearly, his mind's been unhinged by his stay in Azkaban and by being under the Imperius Curse. You-Know-Who is dead. He cannot be back!'

'He is back. I saw him. I fought him and his Death Eaters at the graveyard in Little Hangleton where I was illegally portkeyed to.' said Harry quietly, thinking that there was no point in losing his temper at the Minister. It would take a lot to convince him of the truth.

'Nonsense! Dumbledore, do you believe this boy? I would not, after reading the things in the newspaper about him. A Parselmouth, and what with his scar hurting now and then. His ability to speak to snakes clearly suggests he could become a Dark wizard too and his scar hurting means he has gone off his rocker. It is a dangerous combination! An insane Dark wizard in the making, and now, he is also telling lies about You-Know-Who's return. Do you choose to believe him, Dumbledore?' screeched the Minister.

Everyone looked first at Harry and then at Professor Dumbledore.

'Yes, I do. His Parseltongue ability is an after-effect of Voldemort losing to him that night all those years ago and his scar hurts when Voldemort is near or experiencing a strong emotion such as anger.' said Dumbledore quietly.

'Do you all choose to believe this?' asked Minister looking around.

'Before we turn to the undoubtedly important question of whether He Who Must Not Be Named is really dead or not ', said Amelia raising her voice and taking charge of the situation in that instant and then turning to Crouch who would be the only one incapable of lying thanks to Veritaserum which still maintained its hold on him shown by the glazed eyes, 'I would like to know who is this Wormtail whom Crouch's Master trusted.'

'Peter Pettigrew', said Crouch Junior unblinkingly.

'Preposterous' cried Cornelius Fudge, 'Pettigrew is dead. Sirius Black killed him.'

'He isn't dead. I tried to tell you that last year but you chose to believe his story of a Confundus Charm' said Harry pointing an accusatory finger at Snape. 'Last time, I was hindered by a lack of proof but this time, I can. I can prove that not only is my Godfather innocent but also that Voldemort is alive and has risen again now.'

'How, Mr. Potter?' asked Amelia.

'I can show you my memories of the events in the Headmaster's Pensieve and after that, you may even question me under Veritaserum, if you want to' said Harry.

'That's settled, then. We will all go to my office for this.' said Dumbledore.

'No, Professor. We will not use the Pensieve in your office but a Ministry-approved one,' said Rufus Scrimgeour speaking after a long time. 'This way, there can be no doubts about the memories' authenticity.'

'Yes, Rufus. You are right,' said Amelia looking at the Minister who seemed to have been on the verge of interrupting after Dumbledore spoke. 'Marty' she called out and with a CRACK, a house-elf wearing a uniform bearing the Ministry logo appeared and looked at her.

'Madam Bones be's calling Marty' asked the elf.

'Yes, kindly, fetch the Pensieve from my office and bring it to the Headmaster's office in ten minutes. We will make our way there till then.' said Amelia and with another CRACK, the elf vanished after bowing low to her.

'Let's go' said Amelia and they all headed out.


End file.
